Nothing Else Matters
by NessaroseEast
Summary: Everyone is suffering in the post-apocalyptic world, one filled with zombies now along with all the other things that crawl around in the night, and when the Atlanta group team up with team free will, well, everything that isn't an alive human had better run for the hills as they attempt to right the mistakes of the past. AU immediately after the CDC AU ending of Season 5 and on.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story is going to have multiple chapters and my updates will be extremely sporadic, so I suggest alerting this story for when I update. I ask for you to criticize this story so that I can become better at writing. I would also like suggestions for this story, so if you have an idea, I would like to hear it, and I'll try to fit it in, but I can't promise everything will be in here. Thank you very much for reading this story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or The Walking Dead.**

They were arguing about where to go next. Again. Daryl hated it when they did that. He quickly stood up from his tree stump and walked over to Rick and Shane.

"Hey, ya'll," he said loudly when he was standing next to them. They stopped arguing and looked at him. "How 'bout this: I know a place that's got food, water, shelter, generators, and weapons. It's a five-hour drive to get there. If we leave now, we can get there before sunset."

Rick and Shane looked at Daryl, then looked at each other and began discussing. Daryl rolled his eyes and walked back to his tree stump and sat down. After a few minutes, Rick and Shane walked back up to him.

"Show it to us on this map," Shane said, pulling out a map. " We're prob'ly gonna go."

Daryl smirked and grabbed the map. "Here." He pointed to a spot on the map in the southern part of Georgia. "That's where the place is. It's a real big house, three underground levels, three above-ground levels, panic room, weapon room, pantry, freezer room, generators, all the good stuff."

Shane and Rick raised their eyebrows. "Wow," they said at the same time.

"Yeah, belonged to an old friend a mine an' Merle's. Prob'ly dead now anyways. Not like he's gonna use it anymore." Daryl scratched his chin and handed the map back. "So, we gonna hit the road today, 'r we gonna get goin' tomorra, 'cause I dunno how long that buildin' is gonna hold up with no one takin' care of it."

"Today," Rick said immediately, earning a glare from Shane. "We're gonna go today."

Daryl smiled triumphantly. "Well, what're we waitin' fer, let's get goin'!" He strode over to his motorcycle and started it up. "I'll lead, ya'll can follow."

Rick and Shane immediately rounded everyone up and got them into their cars, quickly explaining what was happening.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey! Thank you everyone who has read and reviewed and followed this story, it means a whole lot to me! I wouldn't mind my writing being criticized, so if anyone finds any mistakes, no matter how small, I would appreciate it if they were pointed out so I can fix them. It also helps my writing get better and helps me personally as a writer. If anyone has any suggestions that they come up with for this story, I would genuinely like to hear them. Anyway, thank you very much for reading this story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or The Walking Dead.**

The parade of cars drove down the long dirt driveway, kicking up dust as they neared the three-storied building. Daryl quickly took in everything about the house, how it was boarded up, the '67 Chevy Impala parked in front of it, and the fenced-off area behind the house. There were several Walkers out front, some walking, but most dead.

Daryl pulled his bike up next to the Impala as everyone else pulled up beside him. He quickly cut off the engine and jumped off the bike, everyone else slowly getting out of their vehicles, stretching from the long car ride. Rick, Shane, and Daryl all pulled out their knives and quickly dispatched the remaining Walkers. When that was done, Daryl pulled his bow off his back and walked silently up the front porch steps.

He stopped in front of the door and knocked four times. Daryl glanced at the peephole in the door as he heard locks being unlocked one by one. By now, the rest of the group had begun to crowd around the porch, glancing nervously around at the surrounding landscape, ready to bolt into the cars at a moment's notice.

The door opened a crack and Daryl looked into a bright blue eye.

"Who are you?" asked a man's deep voice, presumably belonging to the eye's owner.

"Daryl Dixon," said Daryl. "A friend a mine used ta live here. I was wonderin' if he was still here."

The brow above the man's eye furrowed. "There is no one here but Dean, Sam, and myself."

Shane pushed Daryl to the side, getting a glare from said man, and said angrily, "Look, we've got kids and women and we ain't got any place to go, so we'd like ta stay here."

The man on the other side just frowned and said, "I will go get Dean." He closed the door and put a few locks back in place.

"We should go," said Lori quickly. "They're not going to help us."

"We don't know that," said Rick. He turned to Daryl and asked, "They'll help us, right?"

Daryl shrugged. "Maybe. They're not the guy I knew."

"Rick, we should go," said Shane.

"Go where?" asked Rick. "This is the only place we've got to go, there's no where anywhere from here."

The locks on the door shifted and the heavy door opened. Standing there were three men, an average sized man wearing a trench coat, a second man about the same height, but dirty-blond rather than dark haired, and a tall man with longish brown hair that lightly touched his shoulders.

The dirty-blond one who opened the door said, "Hey. I'm Dean."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm sorry I haven't had this out sooner. Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited and followed my story. Please criticize my work, as it helps me to become a better writer. Also, if anyone has any ideas or would like to see something happen, I'm open to suggestions. Thank you all for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or The Walking Dead.**

Rick took a step forward and offered his hand. "Rick Grimes." Dean didn't take the hand, just shifted so his arms were crossed over his chest. His jacket shifted and drew Daryl's eyes down to the gun that was hiding underneath Dean's jacket. He gripped his crossbow tighter.

Rick dropped his hand and took a step back. "This is my group. It's getting late and we need a place to stay for—"

"No," said Dean.

Rick looked surprised. "What?"

"I said no," said Dean. "I know what ya'll want, you want a place to stay for the night, well you know what? This is a world where you can't trust anyone, living or not."

The tallest one turned to Dean and said, "Dean, they've got kids."

Dean huffed and turned his dropped his arms, turning his head. "Sammy, they've gone this long without losing either of the kids."

"I thought we saved people, Dean."

"We do—"

"Then save these people."

Dean glared at Sammy, then turned his glare to Rick. "Fine. Ya'll can stay. But you're gonna have to stay out here."

"That's fine," Rick quickly agreed, nodding.

With one last glare, Dean turned and went back into the house, the trench-coat wearing one following. Sammy stepped forward slightly and closed the door over behind him.

"I'm Sam," he said. "Don't mind Dean, he doesn't trust anyone but the people we know, and even then he's still cautious."

"I don't blame him," said Rick, stepping forward and offering his hand again. Sam took it and Rick said, "Thanks for gettin' him to come 'round."

"Don't mention it," said Sam.

Daryl suddenly asked, "Who are ya'll?"

Sam looked at him. "I'm Sam. That was my brother, Dean. The other one was our friend Castiel."

Daryl narrowed his eyes at Sam. "What're ya'll doin' here?"

"It was late, we found an empty house that was well stocked, we decided that we'd stay here for a while." Sam shrugged.

"It's great," said Rick. "Thanks for lettin' us stay. We'll be fine out here."

Sam clenched his jaw, nodded, and walked back inside, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

Rick rested his hands on his hips and turned to the group. "Alright, we only got about an hour or so of light left, so let's set up the tents and get a fire or two goin'."

Everyone dispersed to the cars to grab things and Daryl shouldered his crossbow, but as Rick started down the stairs, Daryl grabbed his arm. Rick turned to look at him.

"I don't trust these guys," said Daryl.

"And you think I do?" replied Rick and sighed, running his hand over his face and pulling from Daryl's grasp. "Look, Daryl, we needed a place to stay, and even though it's outside, if we need help, they'll come runnin'. Sam mentioned savin' people, maybe they're cops like me 'n' Shane."

"I dunno, Rick," said Daryl, who crossed his arms. "They don't seem like cops ta me."

Rick smiled and clapped a hand on Daryl's shoulder. "It'll be fine," he said and left to help set up the tents.

Daryl paused for a moment then said to himself, "I sure as hell hope so."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you everyone who's read and reviewed, it means a lot to me. Please criticize, I like to know when I've messed something up. So, it's been over a month, and I'm really really sorry. I've started up school again and I have four AP classes with homework every night. I'm actually not doing homework right now to type this up. Also, two weeks ago I was catching up on the modern Doctor Who, the two new episodes I have now watched. And I was sick all last week. And I've been generally lazy lately. I'm sorry. These are all pretty bad excuses, so please enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or The Waking Dead.**

Just after sunset, the tents were up and everyone was gathered around the small campfire, passing food around and taking a small amount of everything and placing it on their plate. It was silent for a long moment, only the hum of the cicadas in the background.

As soon as everything was cleared off his plate, Shane placed his it on the ground and stood up. "I've been thinkin'," he said. Daryl, with a mouth full of food, rolled his eyes and everyone looked up at Shane. "I think in the mornin' we should leave."

"What?" said Lori. "We can't go anywhere else, nowhere's safe."

Shane nodded and said, "Yeah, I've been thinkin' 'bout that. But, see, it's dangerous here, too. We don' even know these people. They might kill us in our sleep and take all our stuff."

"I don't wanna die," Sophia said quietly.

Shane glanced at her. "I don't want anyone here to die. That's why I think we should leave. We'd be safer away from other people."

"I don't think so, Shane," said Rick. "Safety comes in numbers." Rick placed his plate on the ground as well and stood up, looking around at everyone. "Now, I don't think we should completely trust these guys righ' off the bat, and we should definitely keep someone on guard at all times while we're here, but as long as we keep our distance and be careful 'round 'em, we should be fine an' they won't hurt us."

Rick glanced over at Lori, who gave him a small smile. He glanced around at the group, ending with Shane. "We can make it good here. Nothin' has to happen. I'll talk with those guys tomorrow, see what they have and what they want and if they want to hurt us, we'll keep up bein' sharp and keepin' ourselves safe, and we'll be fine. If ya'll are done eatin', go on and head to bed, I'll take the first watch."

Rick stepped out of the group and walked to the RV, climbing on top of it and pulling out his gun, ready for the first watch. Daryl continued eating, as did everyone else.

As they finished eating, everyone went to their tents, leaving Daryl by the embers of the dying fire. When they had all gone, he stood, pulling his crossbow over shoulders. He walked up to the RV and climbed up. He pulled over, noticing Rick looking at him.

"You don' need ta be up here by yerself," Daryl said. "I'll keep watch with ya." He sat down at the opposite side of the RV, looking out over the fields.

"Thanks," said Rick.

Daryl glanced over his shoulder to see Rick still staring at him and shrugged. "No problem." He looked back towards the horizon, waiting for the inevitable Walker to show up.

Around midnight Rick stood up. "We should prob'bly head to bed."

"You go ahead," said Daryl. "I'll wake up T-Dog when I get tired."

Rick frowned and wiped a hand down his tired face. "Alright. Just don't stay up too late."

Daryl grunted in acknowledgement and nodded. Rick climbed down and walked to the tent he shared with Lori and Carl. At the entrance, he looked back at Daryl, but went in. Daryl shook his head, scratched his neck, and stood up, looking out at the fields surrounding the house and camp. It was almost three before he decided he was tired and woke up T-Dog. As T-Dog climbed up on the RV, Daryl went into his tent, laying down on the sleeping bag, falling asleep almost as soon as he lay down.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello. I promised to myself that I would have this out last weekend, but an idea for another story came into my mind, and I just had to write that. But this chapter is a bit longer than I usually write them, about 1,175, not including Author's Note, so I hope that makes up for it. If anyone finds any mistakes, I would appreciate you telling me them, I just want my story to be as good as possible. Also, if you have any ideas for this story or an idea for a story you would like me to write, go ahead and tell me, I appreciate anything. :)**

When Daryl got up the next morning, the sun couldn't have been up for more than ten minutes, and already he could hear movement from the others in the group. He groaned and scratched the top of his head and rubbed the crust from his eyes. He sat up and grabbed what he needed for the day.

When he was ready, Daryl left his tent. He glanced around the camp, noticing that Shane was sitting on the RV keeping watch and that almost everyone was still in their tents, some moving around getting ready for the day. Andrea was sitting by the burnt remains of the fire, just staring at the embers. As Daryl started to walk over to her, Rick came out of his tent in full police officer uniform and motioned Daryl to follow him. They walked away from the camp a few paces and stopped.

"I'm gonna talk to the guys inside," Rick said.

"I Fig'red that," Daryl said.

Rick nodded. "I'm gonna go get Shane, we're gonna talk to them together. You hold down the fort here."

Daryl frowned slightly. "Rick, you're gonna be ten steps away. I don't think you've gotta worry 'bout anythin'."

Rick smiled and clapped Daryl on the shoulder. "Yeah, I know. Gotta be careful, though. Be ready for anything."

Daryl nodded slightly. Rick walked off over to the RV to get Shane. Daryl watched Rick and Shane talk for a moment, but then glanced back at Andrea, who was still sitting by the remains of last night's fire. He walked over to her, making a little noise so he wouldn't scare her, and sat down next to her. She glanced and glared at him.

"What?" she asked.

Daryl frowned and looked back at Rick and Shane, who were walking up the steps of the house to stand on the porch. He turned back to look at Andrea.

"Look," he said. "I know how you're feelin'."

"No you don't," Andrea replied harshly.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I do. Merle, 'member?"

Andrea glanced at him with slight guilt. "Sorry. Forgot."

Daryl didn't reply, only looked back at the house. Sam had opened the door and Rick was talking to him. They were too far for Daryl to hear them, but he assumed Rick was asking if they could go inside and talk. Daryl was proven right when Sam let them through, closing the door behind them.

Daryl stood and made sure he had his crossbow over his shoulder.

"Where're you going?" Andrea asked him.

"Ta keep watch," He replied. "Comin'?"

She stared at him for a moment, and nodded. She stood up and checked for her gun in the band of her pants, then looked back at Daryl. "Alright, let's go."

As they walked towards the RV, Carol and Sophia came out of their tent. Carol gave Daryl a small smile, but, uncomfortable, he pretended he didn't see it.

Andrea climbed up the RV first, and was followed by Daryl. She sat on one side, he sat on the other, and they were both quiet for some time, just watching the fields waiting for Walkers.

Andrea finally said, "My sister didn't deserve what happened to her. Neither did Merle, really." Daryl glanced at her, but she wasn't looking at him. "He helped keep us safe, both of you did. You went to get us food. We'd probably have died if you two weren't there."

Daryl snorted. " 'Probably' is an understatement."

Andrea glared half-heartedly at him and looked away. "Anyway, you two kept us alive, we washed your dirty clothes. It wasn't much, but it was a little, rather than nothing."

"Yeah," Daryl said and looked away. It was silent for time; Daryl watched the shadows become shorter until the front door of the house opened. Daryl and Andrea stood up and watched the five men walk to the group. Rick motioned for them to join, so they climbed down from the RV and followed.

As they joined, Daryl noticed Rick and Shane, and Dean glaring at each other. Sam stepped forward.

"Okay," he said. "We've decided that we're gonna let you guys stay. We've put some plans into place, like if there's any Croats, we'll let you guys in and barricade the doors, don't make any noise, simple stuff. We've got different plans for different scenarios, we'll make sure you guys are safe."

T-Dog asked, "What the hell is a 'Croat'?"

Sam opened his mouth to reply, but Shane said, "It's their word for Walker."

"Why do you call them that?" Lori asked.

Sam and Dean shared an uneasy look. Sam turned back to the group and said, "It's the virus." At everyone's confused looks he continued. "The Croatoan virus. Everyone who's infected with it is called a Croat. At least, that's what we call them."

"That's enough for today," Dean said and walked up to stand next to Sam. "It's time we get back inside."

Dean turned around and headed back to the house. Sam rolled his eyes, sighed, and followed Dean. Castiel stayed where he was, his head slightly sideways, staring at Lori, who started to look uncomfortable.

"Cas!" Dean shouted from the front porch. Cas jumped a little and turned back toward Dean.

"C'mon!"

Cas glanced back at Lori, then walked back to the house. When he got there, Dean opened the door and walked in, followed by Sam and Cas, who closed the door.

"That was creepy," Lori said and everyone but Rick looked back at her. "Why was he looking at me like that?" she asked Rick, who was still staring at the house.

"I dunno," he replied without looking away. He turned back to the group. "Alright, everyone. We're just gonna stay away from them, as far away from them as we possibly can. If you need anythin', just come tell me, I'll talk to them. They're dangerous and not people to kid around. If anythin' happens and we need their help, or they need ours, we'll help each other, but other than that, there will be no contact, is that clear?"

Everyone nodded, Daryl a bit slower, wondering what could possibly have been said in that house for Rick to be acting like this.

"Good," Rick said. "Do whatever you want, just don't go near that house." He turned away and walked to the RV, most likely to take up watch. Shane glanced around and followed.

It was quiet for a moment until someone's stomach growled. Lori looked down at Carl with large eyes.

"Was that you?" she asked.

Carl looked up at her and laughed. "Yeah. I'm hungry."

Lori smiled and said, "Well, let's get some food into your belly and into everyone else's. I guess you're all hungry, too?" She glances around, seeing nods. "Alright, then. I'll start breakfast."

"I'll help," said Carol.

After breakfast, everyone went on their own way, Daryl went back to his tent to sharpen some arrows. A few minutes after he started, there was a high-pitched scream from across the small camp.

**A/N: So. Cliff-hanger! This is where it's going to start getting really interesting and will hopefully pick up some. I know where I want this story to end up, but I don't know exactly how I want to get there. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll try not to leave it like this for too long!**


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